{"id":34979,"date":"2018-03-14T19:44:56","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T19:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/14\/swedens-plan-to-deter-a-russian-digital-attack\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:18:12","slug":"swedens-plan-to-deter-a-russian-digital-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2018\/03\/14\/swedens-plan-to-deter-a-russian-digital-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden\u2019s plan to deter a Russian digital attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What does “total defense” mean for Sweden? In the case of an attack on the country, it plans to mobilize the population and industry for all domains of warfare.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 As Sweden seeks to revitalize its \u201ctotal defense\u201d concept<\/a>, it will rely heavily on its private technology industry to develop new protections from cyberattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blueprint, which would see the entirety of Sweden activated to repel an invasion, was laid out by Defence Commission head Bjorn von Sydow and commission secretariat chief Tommy Akesson during a February interview with Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Sweden had plans throughout the Cold War to militarize the nation in case of an attack, government officials let those plans expire as the country\u2019s relationship with Russia changed. That means leaders have a system to build on as they develop a new strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a vital area the old plans never had to account for: cyberwarfare, which is expected to become an early focus<\/a> for the commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cyber challenges were not known 25 years ago. They were even less taken care of by the system. So we need time,\u201d von Sydow said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He acknowledged it\u2019s logical to assume digital strikes against infrastructure and the power grid would be the first move in any aggression by a great power. That could be particularly crippling to the civilian population if any attack came in winter. Imagine going days without heat or electricity with temperatures well below freezing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden doesn\u2019t have to look far to see what damage could come from a digital-first strike. Estonia, located a short distance away, was infamously hit with a major cyberattack that crippled the government in 2007. And in 2015, Ukraine\u2019s power grid was shut down via cyberattack; since then, other utilities have been taken offline. In both cases, analysts believe Russia was behind the attacks, and hence they can be seen as a preview of the kinds of activities that could come at the start of a Russian military action. <\/p>\n\n\n\t